I really enjoyed listening to the assessment podcast on Web 2.0 and visual learners in the digital age. As I was listening I was find myself nodding, "yes" ,"yes" , "agree". The first thing that was discussed was the expectations that teachers think that by assigning a technology project students will be able to do it without difficulty, however this is not always the case. Therefore, it is important that teachers do the assignment before hand first. One in order to show them a good example, but two to see what kinds of issues may come up along the way that you can prep the students for. I think this is a great way to model work to students. People often ask how we are going to teach students to produce quality work, the easy answer is to model it. I thought this was a great topic and is definitely often not addressed by teachers.
I thought it was also interesting the discussion about visual learning and assessment in today's age. I agree that digital learning is often collaborative and therefore doing group technology projects are teaching students the collaborative skills they will need in the work force. This topic also got me thinking about how visual stimulating students are in classrooms today. I am starting to wonder when text will disappear and learning and assessment is only visual and kinesthetic. Teaching itself has changed. There is less remote learning and more process learning. It is more of the how to think rather than memorization. I agreed with the podcast speakers that there still needs to be a balance between the two.
The other piece of this podcast that really sparked my interest was the discussion about instructional support to faculty and teachers. That this is needed especially with technology integration. This is because it can help bridge the gap between faculty and students in their levels of technology. It is also important because it allows teachers a support system to contact to try new ideas or learn new technologies. However, the last speaker made an excellent point about how the instructional support person needs to be an expert in pedagogy, not content, because technology is always changing. The teachers and faculty need someone that understands the learning process and how to integrate technology into it in this changing world. And I couldn't agree more.
A support person is, in my opinion, too, so critical to the growth of the teachers when it comes to integrating technology in a meaningful way. That person has to understand the learning process - and at the level for which they are providing help. It is different in grade 1 than it is in grade 10. Adminstrators also need to udnerstand that when the support person isn't there, teachers will need time to practice the skills and concepts they have been shown before they will have total success and integration in their classrooms. It isn't an instant process.
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